September state revenues fail to beat projections

Indiana’s revenue collections for September fell short of the most recent estimates. The Indiana State Budget Agency says General Fund revenues last month totaled nearly $1.9 billion, which was 4.2% below the December 2021 forecast, and 1.6% lower than the same month last year.

It is the first time since October 2020 that revenues fell below projections.

The agency says the lower collections are due to a delay in income tax payment processing. Additionally, the repeal of the utility receipts tax and utility services use tax outweighed better than-expected collections from sales tax, corporate adjusted gross income tax, insurance, and interest.

About $64 million of individual income tax collections and $6 million of corporate tax collections were reported in October instead of September, when they were expected.

If the processing delay had not occurred, the agency says General Fund revenues would only have been 0.6% lower than projections.

Erin Murphy, press secretary for Gov. Eric Holcomb, told Inside INdiana Business on Monday that the utility receipts tax repeal took place after the December forecast was made, meaning $50 million that was originally estimated for September was no longer going to be collected.

Riverboat wagering and racino wagering tax collections were also below the most recent estimates, though the agency notes that timing changes in the reporting of collections from gaming taxes will affect the first few months of the fiscal year.

Year-to-date, General Fund revenues totaled $4.9 billion, which is about $118 million above the December forecast and 6.3% higher than the same period last year.

You can connect to the full September revenue report by clicking here.